Kukla's Korner Hockey

Yzerman, who has won four Stanley Cups and three Olympic gold medals as a player and executive, has been credited with much of the Lightning’s sustained success the past eight seasons.

“Whatever you do in life, part of being successful is passion,” said Red Wings General Manager Ken Holland, who began training Yzerman during his playing career and presided over Yzerman’s three championships as a player before working with him when Detroit won another title in 2008. “It can’t be work. If it’s just a job, your energy level is going to be drained over time. That passion and desire to gather knowledge are what Steve had as a player and he’s also taken into the front office.”

Yzerman arrived in Tampa in 2010 after serving in the Red Wings’ front office for four years and guiding Canada to Olympic gold in 2010 as the team’s executive director — a feat the country would repeat under him in 2014.

Comments

I know I’ll get flammed for this as it is an immature thought, but every time I think about Holland not getting out of Steve’s way I get I’ll. Could you imagine where this team would be if Steve was in charge?

there’s no comparison. also, how do you know 19 wouldn’t have been blinded by the same dumb advice KH has obvi been getting? he inherited a better situation and has made good. the wings have, in all honesty, been in some measure of decline for most of a decade. anyone who says 19 could or would have “saved” the wings, or should in the future, is thinking too emotionally. would they have so many bad veteran contracts, for example? well who knows what he would’ve done at that time? since they have the GM with the fewest transactions in the league, i will admit that it’s hard to see how even a monkey throwing darts to make decisions could be much worse.

Hedman and Stamkos were already drafted when Yzerman came on board. While them drafting guys like Kucherov, Palat, Vasilevskiy, etc is nice, that team wouldn’t be anywhere near as effective had they not already had Stamkos and Hedman.

I mean, you’re talking about a guy taking over a team that has just drafted #2 overall, and then #1 overall the year before that. The two toughest things to get are a franchise center and a franchise defenseman, and both were already there when Yzerman came on board. That suuuuure makes the job easier because all you have to then do is get the complementary players to fill the rest out.

Don’t get me wrong, Yzerman’s drafted well enough still and made some good FA decisions (and some bad ones). But…. it’s easy to look like a genius when someone else has already drafted your cornerstones for you.

Just ask Ken Holland. The irony is not lost on those of us paying attention. Holland cornerstones for the franchise were basically already in the system when he took over.

Agree, but… Ok, but that’s sort of not the point… I think the mismanagement of the Wings for the last 10 years is what I’m getting ill at. Would 19 have mismanaged as poor as KH? Doubt it. So, Yeah, 19 inherited some good drafts prior to even showing up in Tampa, but let’s not kid ourselves that there’s no comparison.
Sure, 19 inherited cup-winning talent but KH has done a shit-poor job with his team, so i fault him for that.